Marshaghai: Panic struck residents of Gosainbandh village under this police limits in Kendrapara district Thursday morning when a large chunk of land caved below the under-construction Haridaspur-Paradip rail line. It was like a landslide and members of three houses at Gosainbandh village ran for their lives. The impact was so intense that three pucca houses suffered big cracks.
“We were alerted by a deafening sound. Thinking it could be an earthquake, we ran out of our houses. What we saw shocked us… we ran for our lives as the landslide smashed into our houses,” one of the family members said.
The stretch affected is close to 200 metres long and earth has caved in from both sides.
The villagers alleged they had all along been apprehensive of landslide like mishap. “Since the very beginning, we had feared this kind of an accident. We had even informed the administration of such a scenario. However, officials did not pay any heed to our complaints. And, what we had been apprehending of occurred today (Thursday) morning,” angry villagers said.
The villagers have threatened mass self-immolation in front of the Collector’s office if appropriate steps are not taken immediately to prevent the repetition of such accidents.
PNN
